Cento uomini e una ragazza

A young girl forms an orchestra to help her out-of-work father in "100 Men and a Girl," a 1937 film starring Deanna Durbin, Adolphe Menjou, Leopold Stokowski, Alice Brady, and Mischa Auer. When Patsy Cardwell returns an evening bag her father found, she winds up at a huge society party where she entrances everyone with her singing. Explaining that her father is an unemployed musician, she gets the idea to form her own orchestra and believes the society matron (Alice Brady) when she carelessly agrees to sponsor the orchestra. Many complications ensue, especially when the eminent conductor Leopold Stokowski is sought to lead the new orchestra in concert.

It was interesting to read the "Wizard of Oz" comparisons on this page, because Deanna Durbin reminds me of Judy Garland in a way - in this era, they both wore their hair the same way, were both teenagers, and both had mature voices, Durbin of course leaning more toward the classical. To say that Durbin is an energetic actress is an understatement. She's completely hyper, and that high speaking voice only adds to the anxiety level. As Patsy, she is very pretty and sings well. Like all sopranos of that era, she backs off of her high notes, but the middle voice is quite beautiful and as she grows into a young woman, it will become even more so. She does a credible job on Mozart's "Alleluia" and "Libiamo" from "La Traviata" despite some pitch problems. Given her age, these are minor criticisms. She has a great deal of poise, too, for someone so young.

The rest of the cast is very good, and Stokowski makes a nice contrast against Durbin as his calm, deliberate and very professional self.

"100 Men and a Girl" is about a determined young woman with an outlandish dream who makes it come true. This isn't a fantasy like "Wizard of Oz," nor is it very realistic, I suppose, but the way it's presented - well, you just believe it could happen.

This delightful family picture reflects how the public taste changes over the years. Movies, in general, were kinder to serious music then, something that no studio would even consider in tackling these days. This was a vehicle for Deanna Durbin, who reigned supreme at Universal and who had movies tailor made for her to showcase her talents.

Ms. Durbin was a cute young girl in those years. She was wonderful in the way she projected charm without being obnoxious, or bratty. Her singing voice was amazing and it was always prominently heard in all the movies she made.

The story is something typical of those years. Director Harry Koster was able to present the material in a good fashion. The film follows Ms. Durbin in her quest to help her impoverished father and his musician friends. With the help of the rich Frosts, she is able to bring together the talented unemployed music men into forming an orchestra and convincing the great Leopold Stokowski to make music with them.

The film will not disappoint Ms. Durbin's fans. Adolph Menjou plays her father. The wonderful Alice Brady and Eugene Palette are seen as the generous Frosts, and Mischa Auer plays the family friend Michael.

I caught this movie on TCM and WOW, what a voice. Deanna was just incredible at only 16. Plus she had such personality, and who doesn't like Adolphe Menjou and Eugene Palette. This could have been just another depression era "rags to riches story" or a "let's put on a show" movie, But it had a real story, formula, yes, but a step above. I love classical music and I never realized there was a popular musical like this using only classical music. Boy how times have changed...hehe. I just can't get over Deanna's voice. And yet you just never here about her like Judy Garland. Well Judy is great but Deanna Durbin was just as great in my opinion. Too bad she didn't make more movies or record more records. I could listen to that voice all day. The director, Henry Koster, did a masterful job. The scene of the orchestra playing in the conductors house, is shot in a style way ahead of it's time and not a low budget 30's movie style. Koster went on to direct some very good movies. You can see why in this movie. This movie would be great for film students to study... a 1930's formula film, that rises above formula to Art.

How many have heard of Shirley Temple? How many have heard of Judy Garland? Now, how many have heard of Deanna Durbin? You may be surprised to learn that Deanna Durbin at the time this film was released was more popular than either Temple or Garland, made more money than either, saved her studio from going broke, and had as much merchandise marketed in her name as either. Then why is she all but forgotten today? Because she simply announced that enough is enough and walked away from the so-called glamorous life of a Hollywood star to live in France as a nobody. But we can be thankful that before she made such a fateful decision, she starred in a few classic movies that showcased her magnificent voice.

"One Hundred Men and a Girl" is a wonderful family-type film to share with others. Made during the Great Depression, it gave the audience an optimistic view that those out of work would find jobs, or as the New Deal spin-doctors put it, "Prosperity is just around the corner." Patsy (Deanna Durbin) attempts to put her unemployed father John Cardwell, played to perfection by the marvelous actor Adolphe Menjou, back to work as a trombone player. She tries to convince classical director Leopold Stokowski to put her father in his orchestra but to no avail. While returning a pocketbook her father found to a wealthy society matron (Alice Brady), she misunderstands a joke as a serious proposal to offer a radio contract to her father if he can get an orchestra together composed of his out of work musician friends. The rich lady's husband John Frost is brought into the deal when his wife suddenly leaves for an extended vacation in Europe. The rest of the film revolves around Patsy getting it all together by persistence and unknowingly giving the story to the media. For viewers, it's fun all the way.

There is also an assortment of gifted character actors to add mirth and merriment to the proceedings, to name a few: Eugene Palette, Mischa Auer, and one of the funniest men in the movies Billy Gilbert. Of particular note is a hilarious performance given by Frank Jenks as a singing cab driver with a penchant for opera who appreciates Deanna's talent.

A bonus is all the fantastic classical music played by Stokowski and his orchestra. Stokowski was everyone's ideal of what a conductor should look like and sound like. Disney recognized this and put him in "Fantasia." Stokowski was largely responsible for bringing classical music from its long hair ivory tower status to make it accessible to the average American. All this plus the enchanted singing of Deanna Durbin. Who could ask for anything more?

A postscript: Keep your eye on the feather in Deanna's hat.

A 16-year-old singer/actress plays a girl who travels around a city seeking a mysterious white-haired man of power who can make all her dreams come true … where have we seen that since? Though it's a naturalistic (if not realistic) film instead of a fantasy, "One Hundred Men and a Girl" seems to me strikingly close to "The Wizard of Oz" (the legendary 1939 MGM version) not only in its plot structure but its overall approach. I can't help thinking that Judy Garland screened it and based her performance in "Oz" largely on Deanna Durbin's acting here, just as I suspect Victor Fleming studied Henry Koster's direction of this film to figure out ways to make "Oz" believable on screen. Aside from the "Wizard of Oz" parallels, "One Hundred Men and a Girl" is a first-rate film, a masterpiece within the limits of its genre, with a class consciousness we're more likely to see from Warners than Universal — one of its most moving aspects is the way the jokes and polite tossed-off remarks of the rich characters become heartbreaking when the poor characters take them all too seriously. Incidentally, apropos of some of the "trivia" entries on this film, the orchestra actually heard in the film was the Philadelphia Orchestra, recorded in the Philadelphia Academy of Music on a multi-channel sound system, the first time one was used in a film (contemporary reports differ on whether 12, 14 or 28 microphones were used); by then Leopold Stokowski was no longer the Philadelphia's main conductor but he was still the orchestra's principal guest conductor and he used them in other movie projects, including "Fantasia" (1940).